BOX SCORE
Scranton, PA – As a former Division I player at Penn State University, Tara Macciocco laced up her sneakers alongside Marissa Graby-Hoover for only one season. A standout at Dunmore High School, Macciocco was a member of the Penn State women's basketball team from 1994-1997. Graby-Hoover, a Delaware Valley product, came to Happy Valley during Macciocco's junior year, her last at Penn State before heading to Lock Haven University.
Tonight, at Marywood's Insalaco Arena, the former teammates met up again, this time as opposing coaches, and Macciocco's Pacers out-played Graby-Hoover's Lady Lions from Penn State-Harrisburg to move to 8-1 on the year. Graby-Hoover's Lady Lions fell to 2-8 after the 74-40 loss.
In both high school and college, Macciocco and Graby-Hoover enjoyed outstanding success. In high school, Macciocco led Dunmore to the 1994 State Class AA title game. Macciocco scored 2,211 points during her career at Dunmore and was inducted into the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame in 2004. Coach Graby Hoover had her own share of success in high school, setting Delaware Valley school records of 1,342 points and 1,111 rebounds. Graby-Hoover became the first athlete at her high school to play Division I athletics.
As players at Penn State, both claimed Big Ten Championships, Macciocco's coming in 1994 and Graby-Hoover's in 2000. Macciocco and her teammates reached the NCAA Sweet Sixteen in 1995, while Graby-Hoover's squad reached the Final Four in 2000. After college, the two met up again, this time as player-coach. Graby-Hoover was a member of the Scranton Wilkes-Barre Scream, a women's professional basketball team coached by Macciocco.
Now, as Division III head coaches, both Macciocco and Graby-Hoover are attempting to build their own programs to the same level of success they enjoyed as players. Macciocco's Pacers are seeing that success in her fourth season as Marywood's mentor with an 8-1 start. In her third season with the fledgling program, Graby-Hoover is building a PSU-Harrisburg team from scratch and led the Lady Lions to a 13-10 record in just their second season.
Marywood controlled the tempo of the game from the outset, as the Pacers opened the game on an 18-0 run over the first 6:30 of play. Penn State Harrisburg responded by outscoring the Pacers 18-16 the rest of the opening stanza, but Marywood maintained a 16-point lead at intermission, up 34-18. Stephanie Fusaro (Bala Cynwyd, PA) led Marywood in the opening frame with 11 points while fellow freshman Bryanne Unger (Tower City, PA) had eight. Sandra Adames led the Lady Lions with eight points and 13 rebounds in the first half.
Marywood stretched their lead early in the second half with a pressure defense, forcing turnovers and converting inside the paint. After PSU-Harrisburg was forced to play with four players due to an injury, Marywood showed good sportsmanship by playing four-on-four the rest of the way. In the end, Marywood placed four players in double figures with Fusaro leading the way with 13 points. Adames finished with game highs of 24 points and 19 rebounds for the Lady Lions.
Marywood returns to action Saturday when the Pacers host Neumann College in PAC action at 1:00 pm in the Insalaco Arena.
